THIS WEEK'S NOTES

THIS WEEK'S SERIES
• Michigan Tech and No. 20 Northern Michigan meet this weekend in the first of two WCHA home-and-away series. The Huskies host Friday's game at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena with the two teams traveling to the Berry Events Center in Marquette for Saturday's matchup. The puck drops at 7:07 p.m. both nights.
• Tech is 4-5-2 overall and 2-4-2-1 in the WCHA and NMU is 5-3-0 and 3-1-0 in conference play
• The two teams will meet again on February 23-24 to wrap-up the regular season.

ON THE RADIO
• Mix 93.5 FM WKMJ broadcasts all Michigan Tech hockey games. You can listen to the games online at Pasty.com or by using the TuneIn Radio App on a smart phone.
• Dirk Hembroff will call all the action in his 16th year behind the microphone.

TV BROADCAST
Both games will be televised live on Fox UP. Mark Evans (play-by-play) and Dave Ellis (color) will call all the action. TV6 and Fox UP began broadcasting the rivalry during the 2013-14 season.

WATCH ON WCHA.TV
Fans of the WCHA can watch the league and their favorite team, live or on-demand, via WCHA.tv. In partnership with Stretch Internet, WCHA.tv provides fans with high-quality, HD broadcasts on multiple platforms, including TV-connected devices via custom apps on Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV. Many different packages and rates are available from league to single team deals to season, monthly or nightly options.

MILITARY APPRECIATION
• Former Michigan Tech hockey player Jon French will drop the puck on Friday's game. French was a member of the hockey team in 1993-94 and went on to earn his bachelor's in geological engineering, and a master's in civil engineering from Tech. He enlisted in the US Army in September 2007 and has one combat deployment to Eastern Afghanistan and four NATO/Training deployments to Latvia and Germany. He currently serves as a Squad Leader, Designated Marksman, and Combat Engineer (12B) with the 1431st Engineer (SAPPER) Company, a Michigan Army National Guard unit out of Calumet. He is also employed as a Project Manager/Engineer with Baraga Telephone Company and is the President/Owner of the MA French Foundation.
• Tech will wear special camouflage jerseys Friday that will be auctioned off to benefit the Copper Country Veteran's Association as part of Military Appreciation Weekend. People can bid as many times as they want on their favorite jersey until the 9:30 p.m. deadline. The minimum bid is $60 and you must be in the building to place your bid. Bidding sheets will be located on the wall at ice level under the suites.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
• Northern Michigan is 5-3-0 overall and 3-1-0 in the WCHA after a weekend split with No. 9 Minnesota State last weekend. NMU fell 3-0 Friday but bounced back with a 4-1 victory Saturday. The other wins are over Lake Superior State, two versus Ferris State, and Wisconsin.
• The Wildcats are ranked No. 20 this week in the USCHO.com poll and received votes in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll.
• The Wildcats were picked seventh in both WCHA Preseason Polls.
• Grant Potulny is in his first season as head coach of the Wildcats after serving as an assistant at his alma mater Minnesota over the past eight seasons.
• Senior Robbie Payne (7-3=10) and junior Troy Loggins (3-7=10) lead the team in scoring. Junior Mathias Israelsson is this week's WCHA Goaltender of the Week after 23-of-24 shots in a 4-1 win over Minnesota State last weekend.

SERIES INFO
• Tech is 60-70-14 all-time against NMU, dating back to 1979. Tech is 32-30-8 at home and 23-39-6 in Marquette.
• The Huskies have won 6-of-7 and 8-of-10 over the Wildcats, going 3-1 last year.

LAST MEETING
• The Huskies swept the Wildcats in the November meeting, winning 2-0 Friday and 5-1 Saturday. Jake Lucchini and Jake Jackson scored Friday while, Dylan Steman, Tyler Heinonen, Brent Baltus, Mitch Reinke, and Michael Neville scored Saturday. All five goals were on the special teams Saturday.
• The two teams split the final WCHA series of the regular season. Tech won 3-2 in Marquette with goals by Cliff Watson, Thomas Beretta, and Shane Hanna. The two teams had 35 penalty minutes. NMU spoiled Senior Night with a 5-3 victory in the regular season finale. Joel L'Esperance, Jake Jackson, and Gavin Gould buried Tech's goals.

KINRADE – TEAM CANADA
• Former Tech hockey player Geoff Kinrade has been named to Canada's Karjala Cup roster and is under consideration for Canada's roster for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games.
• Kinrade currently plays for HC Kunlun Red Star, China's only team in the Kontinental Hockey League. The defenseman played 150 games in a Tech uniform, tallying 61 points on 14 goals and 47 assists from 2005-09.

GLI CONTRACT EXTENSION
• Olympia Entertainment and Michigan Tech have announced a four-year contract extension to keep the annual GLI in Detroit and move venues from Joe Louis Arena to the state-of-the-art Little Caesars Arena.
• The 53rd GLI will be January 1-2 with Tech and Michigan State playing the first semifinal followed by Michigan and Bowling Green.
• Future invitees are Lake Superior State (2018-19), Ferris State (2019-20), and Northern Michigan (2020-21).

COACH SHAWHAN
• Head coach Joe Shawhan was hired on May 30, 2017 after serving as an assistant coach for the Huskies over the past three seasons and is one of nine new head coaches across Division I college hockey.
• Shawhan was brought on staff in July 2014 to work with the goaltenders and defensemen. Tech went 75-34-14 during his three seasons, going to the NCAA Tournament twice, winning the MacNaughton Cup in 2015-16, and the Broadmoor Trophy in 2016-17. The Huskies were ranked in the top two in the WCHA, and top 10 in the nation, in goals against average all three years.
• Shawhan spent six seasons at Northern Michigan (2007-14) and was also an assistant coach at his alma mater Lake Superior State from 2005-08.
• As the head coach and general manager of the Soo Indians from 1995-2005, Shawhan compiled a 474-162-43 record to become the winningest coach in the history of the NAHL.
• Coach Shawhan earned four letters as a goaltender at LSSU (1982-87). He led the CCHA in both goals against average and save percentage during the 1985-86 season and left the program tied for first all-time in career GAA at 3.83.

LAST WEEKEND
• Michigan Tech fell and tied Bowling Green at home last weekend. The Falcons won 2-1 Friday and the two teams tied 2-2 the next night. BGSU won the shootout in the sixth round after the 5-on-5 and 3-on-3 overtimes.
• Sophomore forward Thomas Beretta scored on the power play Friday for his second goal of the season. He has six goals and five assists through 50 career games.
• Junior defenseman Keegan Ford scored his first collegiate goal Saturday with a first period power play tally. He also has three assists in his first season as a Husky. He had a pair of assists with Wisconsin in 2014.
• Sophomore forward Gavin Gould scored his fifth goal of the season Saturday to tie the game at two. Gould also has three assists on the season and 31 career points.
• Junior goaltender Devin Kero started both nights between the pipes, making 50 saves. He has a 1.95 goals against average and .926 save percentage through two games this season.
• Jake Lucchini, Mitch Reinke, Jake Jackson, Thomas Beretta, Mark Auk, and Justin Misiak missed their tries in the shootout.

LOOKING AHEAD
• The month wraps up with a two-week road trip to Alaska over Thanksgiving break. The Huskies play at Alaska Anchorage on November 17-18 and Alaska on November 24-25.
• Tech hosts two a pair of WCHA opponents in December with Ferris State (Dec. 8-9) and Lake Superior State (Dec. 15-16) coming to the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena.
• The 53rd GLI is January 1-2 at Little Caesars Arena and the Ice Vegas Invitational Tournament is January 5-6 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

WCHA DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE MONTH
Senior defenseman Mark Auk was named WCHA Defensive Player of the Month after he led all WCHA defensemen with nine points and a plus-4 rating in October. He scored two goals and added seven assists to rank third amongst blue liners in the country in scoring.

TECH PICKED THIRD IN WCHA POLLS
Tech was selected third in both WCHA preseason polls. The Huskies were third behind first place Minnesota State and Bemidji State in the Mankato Free Press Preseason Coaches' Poll and the UAHHockey.com Preseason Media Poll.

BEST JERSEYS IN COUNTRY
HockeyByDesign.com recently ranked Michigan Tech's jerseys as the top uniforms in all of college hockey. Tech has four uniforms: white, black, gold, and cream. The new blacks are based off a jersey from the 1932-33 season.

WCHA DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF WEEK – OCT. 9
Senior defenseman Mark Auk was named WCHA Defensive Player of the Week after being named the MVP of the Ice Breaker Tournament on October 9. Auk scored two goals and added two assists at the tournament.

WCHA ROOKIE OF WEEK – OCT. 9
Freshman Justin Misiak received WCHA Rookie of the Week honors on October 9 after scoring his first collegiate goal for the game winner against UMD in the Ice Breaker Championship Game. Misiak played in his first two NCAA games that weekend.

ICE BREAKER ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Seniors Mark Auk and Joel L'Esperance were named to the Ice Breaker All-Tournament Team. Auk was the Tournament MVP. Auk talled two goals and two assists L'Esperance scored two goals.

TRANSFERRED IN
• Defenseman Keegan Ford played 12 games for the Wisconsin Badgers in 2014-15, recording two assists.
• Goaltender Patrick Munson played 21 games for the Vermont Catamounts in 2015-16 and was Denver's roster last season. Munson had a 9-10-1 record for Vermont with a 2.37 goals against average, and a .920 save percentage.

NONCONFERENCE SCHEDULE
• Tech plays nine nonconference games this season and is 2-1 so far this season.
• The Huskies open the 53rd GLI on January 1 versus Michigan State. Bowling Green and Michigan meet in the second semifinal.
• Tech also plays in the Ice Vegas Invitational in Las Vegas. The Huskies open up against Boston College with Northern Michigan and Arizona State meeting in the second semifinal.
• The nonconference schedule wraps up versus ASU at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena in February.

JOE SHAWHAN HOUR
The Joe Shawhan Hour can be heard every Monday morning at 9 a.m. on Mix 93.5 WKMJ. Host Dirk Hembroff and Coach Shawhan talk about the previous weekend and the upcoming matchup. You can also listen live online at Pasty.com or visit MichiganTechHuskies.com for the full audio recording.

FAMILY AFFAIR
• Gavin Gould – Older brother Malcolm was an All-WCHA forward for the Huskies, playing from 2012-16.
• Devin Kero – Older brother, Tanner, was an All-American Michigan Tech hockey player from 2011-15.
• Joel L'Esperance – Older brother, Alan, lettered in hockey at Michigan Tech in 2010-11.
• Tyler Rockwell – Father John played goaltender for the Huskies from 1975-79.
• Cooper Watson – Older brother Cliff was a two-time team captain in his four-year career from 2013-17.